The Winter's Tale | Photo: Johan Persson

The Winter's Tale | Photo: Johan Persson

The Winter's Tale | Photo: Johan Persson

Kenneth Branagh | Plays at the Garrick

Kenneth Branagh’s The Winter’s Tale at the Garrick Theatre

Garrick Theatre, Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0HH

Starring Judi Dench and Kenneth Branagh, The Winter’s Tale is part of Kenneth Branagh’s season of Plays at the Garrick theatre.

Shakespeareʼs timeless tragicomedy of obsession and redemption is reimagined in a new production co-directed by Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh, following their triumphant staging of Macbeth in Manchester and Manhattan. Judi Dench will play Paulina, Kenneth Branagh will play Leontes.

The Winter’s Tale will form part of Kenneth Branagh’s season called Plays at the Garrick and runs from 17 October 2015 until 16 January 2016

STORY

Leontes has everything a man could want: power, wealth, a loving family and friends. But jealousy causes him tear his happy family apart, leading to years of guilt. Finally he pays his debts and can be reconciled with his loving wife, Hermione.

The Winter’s Tale consists of five acts: The first three acts consist of psychological drama where Shakespeare demands we endure the savage madness of Leontes and the deaths of innocent people; the final two acts are full of amusement and laughter which leads to a happy and joyous ending.

CAST

The cast includes Dame Judi Dench as Paulina, Kenneth Branagh as Leontes, Tom Bateman as Florizel, Jessie Buckley as Perdita, Jack Colgrave Hirst as The Clown, Hadley Fraser as Polixenes, Michael Pennington as Antigonus, Miranda Raison as Hermione, John Shrapnel as Camillo, Kathryn Wilder as Mopsa, John Dagleish as Autolycus and Jimmy Yuil as Shepherd.

Judi Dench: Since playing Ophelia in Hamlet at The Old Vic Theatre 58 years ago, Judi Dench has garnered wide popular and critical admiration for a career marked by outstanding performances in both classical and contemporary roles. Judi has won numerous major awards including an Academy Award, ten BAFTA Awards and a record six Laurence Olivier Awards.

Kenneth Branagh is an award-winning actor, director, producer and screenwriter. Branagh’s stage acting credits include Another Country, Henry V, Golden Girls, three productions of Hamlet, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Romeo and Juliet (also directed), Public Enemy, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, Look Back in Anger, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (also directed), King Lear (also directed), Coriolanus, Richard III, Edmond, Ivanov, The Painkiller and Macbeth (also co-directed). The plays he has directed also include John Sessions’ The Life of Napoleon and Napoleon, The American Story, Twelfth Night, Uncle Vanya, The Play What I Wrote, and Ducktastic.

Jessie Buckley first came to prominence in Andrew Lloyd Webber and the BBC’s Production of I’d Do Anything, since then her theatre credits include The Tempest (The Globe) Henry V (Noël Coward Theatre), Amadeus (Chichester Festival Theatre), Venice Preserv’d (The Spectators Guild), Henry V (Noel Coward Theatre), The Tempest (The Globe) and A Little Night Music (Menier Chocolate Factory/The Garrick Theatre, London).

Michael Pennington is an actor, director and writer. His extensive body of work includes King Lear, Hamlet, Coriolanus, Henry V, Macbeth, Richard II, The Winter’s Tale, The Entertainer, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Measure for Measure, Shadow of a Gunman. His television credits include The Escape Artist, Title role in Oedipus the King, Danton’s Death, Miss Nightingale, Trial and Retribution, State of Play, Kavanagh QC, Waking the Dead, Doctor Terrible’s House of Horrible, Cracker, Between the Lines and The Return of Sherlock Holmes. In addition his film credits include Churchill at War, Return of the Jedi and The Iron Lady.

Miranda Raison’s theatre credits include Hello/Goodbye (Hampstead) Strangers On A Train (The Gielgud), The River (Royal Court Theatre), The Physicists (Donmar Warehouse), Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII (Shakespeare’s Globe), and The Man Who Came To Dinner (Chichester Festival Theatre). Her television credits include 24: Live Another Day, Merlin, Death In Paradise, Doctor Who, Lewis, Poirot, Spooks and Heartbeat. Miranda’s film credits include My Week With Marilyn, Match Point, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo and Susie Q.

CREATIVE TEAM

Kenneth Branagh and Rob Ashford to co-direct with set and costume by Christopher Oram.

REVIEWS

★★★★★ “Brilliant” The Telegraph★★★★ “In a production unafraid to hint at the darker elements of Shakespeare’s fable, Branagh and Dench are surrounded by a first-rate team” The Guardian★★★★“elegant” The Evening Standard★★★★“splendid, starry and sincere” The Stage “Dench is effortless to watch” The Times

If you are unable to purchase a stand alone ticket on your preferred date we have additional availability via our Theatre Dinner package (ticket +dinner).

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hello Just thought I would ask if it is possible to watch a dress rehearsal. We are coming from Canada to London but we leave to come home on October 17 Thought it was worth a try. We love Judy Dench Thank you